[Ben]

El Capitán Rojo
Faction Affiliation: Spanish
Rarity: C
Type: Crew
Point Value: 7
Ability: Captain. When this ship hits an enemy ship, you may also eliminate one crew from that ship.

Flavor text: Known as “The Red Captain” for steeping entire enemy hulls in blood, this man was inspired by The Inquisitor.

Historical Custom of the Day #271

Ingela Hammar
Pirate
Crew
3 points
Ability: Filching Gold. Ship treasure trading. [Once per turn, if this ship carries treasure and is within S of an enemy ship, you may randomly trade one treasure with that ship.]
Link: Lars Gathenhielm

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Unicorn Pearl
Faction Affiliation: French
Rarity: R
Type: Ship
Point Value: 9
Number of Masts: 1
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 4S
Ability: This ship gets +2 to her boarding rolls. If this ship carries the Unicorn Pearl Unique Treasure, this ship cannot sink or be scuttled.

Flavor text: Driven onwards by the task assigned to them by the Queen of France herself, the crew of this sloop have maximized the efficiency of their hand-to-hand combat. Only after they find the ship’s namesake can they rest. (and get paid!)

Unicorn Pearl
Type: Unique Treasure
Ability: You may load this treasure face down. This treasure is worth 10 gold when unloaded at your home island. Once a player sees this treasure, they may turn it face up for the remainder of the game. When face up, enemies get +1 to their cannon and boarding rolls against this ship.

Flavor text: Rumored to be valuable beyond belief or containing ancient power fit for an emperor, this small gemstone is one of the most sought after treasures in all the epic seas of the world.

Historical Custom of the Day #270

Lars Gathenhielm

Pirate
Crew
9 points
Ability: Captain. Once per turn give any ship in your fleet +1 to all of her cannon rolls. This crew can use its abilities inside Pirate forts.
Link: Ingela Hammar

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

there’s a character who can control other people by stealing their shadow

Keyword “people”. 😉 OK I’ll try not to get too snarky. XD

I do think it would work better as some kind of crew Possession though – a great opportunity for a modified version of that ability. I think doing that would solve the problems all at once – lower the cost and make it more practical/efficient but also less OP at the same time. (for modifications, I think making it on rolls of 5-6 or not having to give up the action either way (or both) would help justify the original overpriced cost of 8)

I find it interesting that you have a lot of ships whose inspiration are people or human-like figures. It makes sense given that this game has more ships than crew and that there aren’t a high quantity of actual fantasy ships to draw from (compared to characters), but I usually find it easier to just keep characters as crew rather than trying to convert them into “things”. In this case the Shadow Thief could be a crew with the Possession ability (possibly modified to make them stand out and/or additional attributes based on the character). Keeping it a ship but making it crew Possession would be less game-breaking/useless than being able to steal ships.

Your concept reminds me of a combo I made just this week that I’m excited about. However, it’s pretty rough and could use some feedback.

Dream Master
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: U
Type: Crew
Point Value: 7
Ability: Once per turn you may take control of one enemy crew until the beginning of your next turn.
Link: Dream Weaver, Dream Weaver II

Flavor text: Having spent a fortune on mind reading techniques, seeing psychics, and basking in the heat of a 10 year journey through southern Asia to live with monks and gurus, the Dream Master finally discovered “the secret”. He is able to influence the subconcious of those around him, occasionally taking over to the point where they do his bidding. News of his bizarre expertise has reached the Cursed, who are preparing to offer him a massive lump sum (in stolen loot, of course) to obtain his “services”, which he claims are not for hire.

He’s basically another “big” independent crew who mostly operates on his own and isn’t part of a nationality or group. (big meaning important/famous/powerful/etc)

I’m not sure how to word his ability properly. Basically you’d be able to use whatever abilities the crew had, as if they were your own. Ex: If an opponent’s ship was given a move action and had a captain, by controlling the captain you could choose if they shot or not, what the targets are, etc. Or simply use it to shut down the crew for the round and not have them get used at all (like they are dreaming while asleep instead of at their post). I think there would have to be a giant Pirate Code entry for this idea though. Thinking about something like All-Powerful, it would get weird on rolls of 5-6. Or using a Possession crew to possess the Dream Master in some kind of strange alliance. XD Lots of possibilities, many of them confusing. I had him at 5 figuring it wasn’t much better than cancelling, but just bumped it to 7….

Dream Weaver
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: U
Type: Ship
Point Value: 20
Number of Masts: 4
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3S-4L-4L-4S
Ability: Mercenary. Once per turn you may take control of one enemy crew within L of this ship until the beginning of your next turn.
Link: Dream Master

Flavor text: The first and primary ship of the Dream Master, the Dream Weaver is an average vessel with an exquisite interior. Her lack of firepower and exceptional handling is more than made up for by her spacious and luxurious quarters. That said, apparently the Dream Master is looking to take on a more expert crew to help him achieve his mysterious goals….

Dream Weaver II
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: U
Type: Ship
Point Value: 17
Number of Masts: 4
Cargo Space: 3
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 5S-3LL-3LL-5S (not typos, middle cannons have range of L+L)
Ability: Mercenary. Schooner. This ship gets +S to her base move if she is within S of an island at any point during a move action.
Link: Dream Master

Flavor text: The Dream Master wanted a backup ship, and found one in this speedy but pricey new schooner. He rarely sets foot aboard, but keeps her safe in the Philippines if something were to happen to his beloved flagship. Looking after the ship is a small crew tasked and educated with the art of evasion and escape.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Shadow Stalker would probably get complicated. It almost acts as a range extender if you measure from the outside edge of the fog bank.
I like the inspiration for Madness, but I think it should be about 23 points to start at.
Smokescreen is really cool.
Treachery is really cool, great idea with that one! It does bring up the “predictability” aspect also present in EE resource rolls though – it’s a bit less exciting if everyone knows when the change will happen. Some additional explanation would be required too – what happens in multiplayer? Roll again with numbers for the other players, or maybe player to the left or right? I think two changes are worth considering, or usable on a different custom with the same kind of ability (I might experiment with it): perhaps make it change allegiance when you roll a 1 (roll a d6 at the beginning of each turn, change fleets on a 1), and allow it to change fleets multiple times in a game. (the first change would enable the second, and make it more crazy since people wouldn’t be able to anticipate “nice I get this ship in 3 turns”)
Love the Arsenal. You could even “exploit” it and use different Letters of Marque/Soul Mark to coast through a multi-faction game. XD
The new Phantom isn’t too good, but the cost may be right. A 10 master copying the flying/teleportation ability is an ugly possibility.
Not sure yet about Shadow Thief. I think the drawbacks of the ability are severe enough perhaps, but it’s still a rough thought to think about that ship empty stealing a fully loaded 10 master (~60+ points or more sometimes) for a 40 point swing in the game. She kind of reminds me of the Ship and Port Burners – horribly inefficient in many ways, but breakable with the right luck. Again, one die roll shouldn’t determine the outcome of a game, so it’s just kind of an extreme thing to play with. It’s also a little frustrating when the flavor constantly says “nobody knows how she does it” for every bizarre crazy powerful ability (OK not all of them haha, but sometimes the “mystery” just becomes an excuse for excessive amounts of “magic”).
Death’s Grace is solid, but the flavor makes it seem like she’s more of a fighter. 8 points for 3 cargo would be more playable and less obvious of a gold runner role. Or make her a longship for some extra firepower.
One thing is the names – we’ve seen a Madness and Treachery, and you have your own supercustom Phantom. Not a big deal, but can be a little confusing. I know it’s not your style as much, but sometimes I add “flair” to names by adding extra stuff to them. __’s Treachery (first mutineer’s name or something); “Madness of ___” (place or captain name) can help differentiate and add flavor to the names. (not saying you need to)

Spur
Faction Affiliation: American
Rarity: R
Type: Ship
Point Value: 8
Number of Masts: 1
Cargo Space: 2
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 3S
Ability: Galley. This ship gets +S to her base move when towing.

Flavor text: Having led horses to heroic deeds on the battlefields of the American frontier, the oarsmen of the Spur know just how to work harder when pulling a heavy load.

Historical Custom of the Day #269

Zheng Jing

Jade Rebellion
Crew
10 points
Ability: Captain. This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls for every crew assigned to her. This ship gets +1 to her d6 rolls against land entities. This crew can use their abilities on Pirate ships.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Plessius of Arkana
Faction Affiliation: Barbary Corsair
Rarity: U
Type: Crew
Point Value: 6
Ability: Once per turn you may eliminate one of this ship’s cargo to give up to two friendly Barbary Corsair ships within S of this ship +1 to their cannon rolls this turn and +S to their base moves this turn.

Flavor text: The ultimate helper, this timid philosopher has ways that seem natural only to the dreaded Cursed. However, he has only been seen on Barbary ships thus far, and therefore the Lotus Queen is using him to advance the fleet.

Historical Custom of the Day #268

Robert Deal
Pirate
Crew
4 points
Ability: Helmsman. This ship gets +1 to her d6 rolls against 1 masters.
Link: Charles Vane

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Cauldron
Faction Affiliation: Jade Rebellion
Rarity: R
Type: Ship
Point Value: 6
Number of Masts: 1
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: T
Cannons: 2S
Ability: Turtle Ship. This ship cannot move on its own and must be towed using the Flotilla keyword rules. Cursed crew can use their abilities on this ship.

Flavor text: A massive iron cauldron sits in the hold of this little ship, weighing her down so much that not even the best rowers in the East can move her. She is towed into battle, upon which Cursed banshees and fiends occasionally spring from the cauldron. Auzerais is concerned that the ship’s reputation is making it look like the entire Jade Rebellion is in league with the Cursed, which couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Historical Custom of the Day #267

Captain Crapo
Pirate
Crew
8 points
Ability: Captain. Oarsman. This ship gets +1 to her d6 rolls against English ships. If this ship is within S of an enemy ship when this ship is given a move action, she gets +S to her base move.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

“Accident”
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: U
Type: Ship
Point Value: 16
Number of Masts: 4
Cargo Space: 5
Base Move: L
Cannons: 5S-4L-3L-4S
Ability: Once per turn, roll a d6. On a 4-6, you may eliminate up to 2 masts and 2 crew on any ship within S of this ship.

Flavor text: Disguised as a Spanish merchant galleon, the gleeful crew of this nasty Cursed vessel have a penchant for tricking their victims into thinking that something legitimately went innocently wrong. Only after realizing their buffoonery do their enemies surrender their valuables at the tip of Cursed blades, or die in the ensuing explosion when the ship is blown to pieces by explosives planted by Cursed operatives.

Historical Custom of the Day #266

Sulayman Reis
Barbary Corsair
Crew
10 points
Ability: Captain. AA. Dutch crew can use their abilities on this ship.
Link: Zymen Danseker, Murat Reis the Younger

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

I LOVE the Shadow’s Hand, partly because it reminds me of various customs I’ve made (Smoke’s Hand, Mirage, Shadow’s Death, etc – though the latter for name only).

With the Dark Hunter keyword, just remember what Woelf said about custom keywords that don’t add much new stuff. (keywords or existing abilities within a keyword = not great) Since it’s a sub faction I suppose it works, it’s just a matter of remembering the abilities (mainly +2 to boards) and tacking them onto the cost.

I have a feeling Cor’dahk is worth at least 22, but I think 20 is high enough to start at. Another awesome ship, I love that new ability. I feel that the other 5 masters that move S+L are costed about right, and this one is amazing at combat.

I like the drawback on the Screecher, and think the cost is about right. Good job on these, especially those 5’s. 😀

Gladewater
Faction Affiliation: French
Rarity: SE
Type: Ship
Point Value: 16
Number of Masts: 3
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 3L-4L-3S
Ability: Double Catamaran. If this ship is within S of an enemy ship when this ship is given a move action, she gets +S to her base move. Mercenary crew may use their abilities on this ship.

Flavor text: This unique defensive powerhouse has been piloted by the French down to the southern Pacific. Here some local natives volunteered to join the crew, further improving her agility and effectiveness.

Historical Custom of the Day #265

Murat Reis the Younger
Barbary Corsair
Crew
12 points
Ability: Captain. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls. If this ship wins a boarding party, she may take as much treasure from the other ship as she can carry OR capture the crew with the highest point cost instead of eliminating it. A captured crew becomes cargo worth its point cost in gold when unloaded at your home island.
Link: Sulayman Reis

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Urathriel Lorthod
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: U
Type: Crew
Point Value: 8
Ability: Ex-Patriot. All of this ship’s cannons have L range. When this ship rolls a 6 to hit, also eliminate one cargo from the enemy ship. Cursed crew can use their abilities on this ship.

Flavor text: Heavily influenced by Clandesis and the Archfiend Demoncense, Lorthod is increasingly becoming more evil as time passes. He is adept at finding weak spots in the hulls of enemy ships, gleefully watching his gun crews kill and maim. Recently he has been seen taking aboard various inhuman crew….

Historical Custom of the Day #264

Philip Roche
Pirate
Crew
4 points
Ability: Massacre. This ship gets -3 to her reef rolls.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Case of same name, different person it seems. My Drazon is derived from this Hydraxon–>
https://bionicle.fandom.com/wiki/Hydraxon

Shouldn’t his name be Drazon or Hydraxon then?

Eruadan Camus
Faction Affiliation: Viking
Rarity: C
Type: Crew
Point Value: 6
Ability: Unholy Light. Parley.

Flavor text: Although he’s more a scholar than a true Viking, Camus is often sought out by Norse captains for advice. Having perfected his methods, spying is now his main occupation. He is also an expert negotiator, and manages to talk his way out of incidents even after it has been proven that he has snuck around and stuck his prying eyes where they don’t belong.

Historical Custom of the Day #263

Nicholas Clough
Pirate
Crew
3 points
Ability: Loyal: Pirate. Once per turn as part of a move action, this ship can randomly take one treasure from any ship up to S away from her.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Interesting flavor text on the Frenchwoman, will we see her father at some future date?

Nobody knows….

Draxon

What? I released Draxon a while ago! He’s one of the big Mercenary crew of Epic Seas! XD

Stormy Waters
Faction Affiliation: Pirate
Rarity: R
Type: Ship
Point Value: 12
Number of Masts: 1
Cargo Space: 3
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3L
Ability: Turtle Ship. Once per turn if this ship is touching terrain, you may move one enemy ship within S of this ship so that it touches the same terrain piece.

Flavor text: Like a thief in the night, the crew of this vessel have learned how to harness the weather to their advantage. Taking cues from the unholy Cursed, they are beginning to manipulate their opponents in unnatural fashion.

Historical Custom of the Day #262

Pieter Ita
Dutch
Crew
6 points
Ability: Captain. This ship gets +1 to her d6 rolls against the Spanish. Pirate crew can use their abilities on this ship.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Loimeriea Caroleus
Faction Affiliation: France
Rarity: C
Type: Crew
Point Value: 4
Ability: This ship ignores terrain when given a move action. This ship can’t be pinned.

Flavor text: The youngest first mate in the French Navy at just 17, Loimeriea doesn’t care what her fellow sailors think of her. Her only goal is to join her father (who is unaware of her existence) at the helm of a giant Mercenary ship in the distant future.

Historical Custom of the Day #261

Hendrick Lucifer
Pirate
Crew
7 points
Ability: Captain. Smokepot Specialist. This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Swift Attempt
Faction Affiliation: American
Rarity: SE
Type: Ship
Point Value: 14
Number of Masts: 3
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 2S-3L-2S
Ability: Windcatcher. Broadsides Attack.

Flavor text: After becoming famous for one of the most successful heists in history, the crew of this vessel laid low for months. Knowing they will be caught if they try the same trick again, they have decided to pick guns over gold for their next mission.

Historical Custom of the Day #260

Shi Lang
Jade Rebellion
Crew
10 points
Ability: Captain. This ship gets +1 to her cannon and boarding rolls.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

So Kihwe is basically BA without the “no other abilities” part, and no extra damage. Seems like it would get complicated…
Not sure about Urupan yet. Reminds me of Doragon the Magnificent, but this guy can elevate the ship he is on too… pretty wacky! I’m not sure how he would lift that much weight all of a sudden…. XD
I think the latest two are overpriced – HI Raiding is better at 3 points IMO, and I’d be fine with Liha at 5 points. (existing ability to shoot at subs within S is definitely overpriced at 5… I like 3 for that one)

Timarkos
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: C
Type: Crew
Point Value: 8
Ability: Ex-Patriot. Captain. Hoard.

Flavor text: Skilled at sneaking cargo aboard his ship, Timarkos may soon face a reckoning. He is wanted for treason in Ireland, and the Barbary Corsairs have put a price on his head after too many of their galleys were looted by him and his crews. Always quick to seize the right opportunity, he has escaped to the South Pacific and bonded with some of the mercenaries there.

Historical Custom of the Day #259

Zheng Zhilong
Jade Rebellion
Crew
11 points
Ability: Captain. EA [Extra Action: Once per turn, roll a d6. On a 5-6, this ship may be given an extra action.]. This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls. Pirate crew can use their abilities on this ship.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Also (this is mostly for Ben) as of yet, I have no real flavor text for the seas of doom pieces, but once I get enough, I will begin re-posting the pieces with the text attached.

I think it would be much better to simply reveal the flavor text with the eventual spreadsheet than repost them all.

Skoric
Faction Affiliation: Viking
Rarity: C
Type: Crew
Point Value: 6
Ability: Helmsman. S-Board. [As part of a move action, this ship can initiate a boarding party against a ship up to S away from her, without having to ram. The boarded ship can’t use any boarding bonuses.]

Flavor text: This brave young navigator sometimes takes it too far. Though he is primarily in charge of keeping the ship on course with all speed, Skoric is often the first man to touch an enemy ship when in combat.

Historical Custom of the Day #258

Li Dan
Jade Rebellion
Crew
5 points
Ability: Ship treasure trading. One of this ship’s treasures is worth +1 gold when she docks at your home island.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Why is Jasper Greene so expensive? I don’t think that version of the copy ability is worth that much, since the only things you’ll be copying are by and large generic abilities like musketeer, firepot specialist or helmsman.

I think Greene is fascinating, and probably worth the points. I think he’ll be copying stuff like SAT and Parley, and being able to switch each turn makes him worth the points in my opinion.

Give this ship a move action, but do not move her. Roll a d6; on a 4-6 fully repair every friendly ship within S of this ship.

As with many other abilities, I think this needs a cap. You could have 10 masters with 1 mast each on either side and then repair them fully and save 18 total turns of repair work, which breaks the game and exploits 10 masters even more. An extreme example, but quite possible. I think repairing one mast on all friendly ships within L would be cooler and less OP.

Deikov Chansky
Faction Affiliation: Pirate
Rarity: U
Type: Crew
Point Value: 10
Ability: Captain. Marine. HI Raider. This crew can use its abilities on Mercenary ships.

Flavor text: Deikov has been in league with Draxon and Timarkos, but forges onward as a true pirate. His only weakness lies in his failure to play all roles capably at the same time. He is growing frustrated with his crew, who he sees as incredibly incompetent compared to himself.

Historical Custom of the Day #257

Thomas Phillips

English
Crew
7 points
Ability: Cannoneer. World Hater. This crew can use his abilities in forts.
Link: HMS Portsmouth

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Explorer + SAT strikes me as a combo that probably shouldn’t show up together on a crew. Kano is quite interesting.

Ruins of Baboteca
Faction Affiliation: Spanish
Rarity: C
Type: Fort
Gold Cost: 4
Cannons: 2S-2S-3L-3L
Ability: Spanish ships docked at this island or within S of this island get +1 to their d6 rolls. When this fort is hit, eliminate two flags instead of one.

Flavor text: Historically important, the Ruins of Baboteca were found weakened but intact. The fort is serviceable, but usually the Spanish force defending it puts up a heavier resistance than the fort itself. The crumbling walls give way easily to moderate bombardment.

Historical Custom of the Day #256

Edward Coates
Pirate
Crew
3 points
Ability: Parley.
Link: William May, Samuel Burgess, Robert Culliford

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Yup, podcast topic makes sense too.
I do think Wanhu’s ability text could receive some lengthy additions to keep it from being OP.
A cure for venom sounds like the perfect background for Crew Protect (or Doctor but that hasn’t appeared on a ship).
If it’s automatic it really shouldn’t be on every hit. Players shouldn’t be penalized for getting the first shot and hitting with their cannons. If you go with my idea or a very moderate version of the “backlash” ability, I could even see Crew Protect or a repair ability as well; from Epic Seas obviously I like having ships with multiple abilities, but then the cost might go back up into that 28 range… XD

[Ben]

The Matoran Canoes remind me of a problem that is difficult to avoid when making customs – making the same kinds of mistakes that Wizkids made, since they did it first and made it official. As in, using the Banshee’s Cry’s ability to severely lower point costs, or comparing customs to all the BEST ships in the game rather than average ones. For example, someone may bring up that a ship isn’t really better than the San Cristobal, or HMS Titan for example. But when those originals are so OP in the first place, it just further makes “regular” stuff and more reasonable/better priced customs more obsolete. The American native canoes could have had 1 cargo each and still been 10 points, and they’d still be one of the best sets out there. Then it would be more of a debate with the Spanish canoes, rather than one of the most OP game pieces out there. I think this topic is worth a blog post sometime – perhaps it’s the onus of us as custom creators to not repeat Wizkids’ mistakes. 🙂

Anewo should have Black Mark haha. 😉 Would be interesting to see if he is deemed OP in any CG usage.
Wanhu is fascinating – there’s an example of flavor text really helping with a custom crew. The flavor explanation makes me less eager to have the ability completely changed – perhaps it can work somehow. At 10 points and only working on a 6, it’s already very limited. I think it could work just fine, but with a few caveats in campaign games. Perhaps in those games he’d be banned, or the islands could NEVER produce resources/gold/etc. Even letting forts on a bunch of “new” islands could get tricky, especially if they were used as launch points right near an enemy home island. Lots to consider there, and obvious breakability will be present whenever an ability allows you to bring stuff in from outside the game.

I have a few issues with K’Tung:
1. I do not like the idea of having to roll every time the ship is hit. That would require two rolls per cannon on hits, and by different players presumably. Catamarans are annoying enough in my opinion, and this has the potential to eclipse that, especially if rerolls are involved.
2. Copying to a 10 master/etc. #1 is a bigger issue for me, but the cost and cannon inaccuracies become irrelevant if this got on the Guichuan/etc. Then it’s even more annoying because you’d have to roll twice as much for opponents attacking. The ship strikes me as something to simply avoid and let it take up build total for arguably minimal effectiveness, but oftentimes you cannot just avoid the presence of a 10 master in a game.

I think a radical solution could potentially solve both problems, but it’s probably not very exciting from a flavor perspective (I would assume). “Once per turn when this ship is hit, instead eliminate a mast from the attacking ship.” Make it automatic but only once per turn, and give the defender the ability to choose which “hit” gets “deflected”. For all I know this could be even more problematic than the first ability, but it avoids a lot of extra dice rolling, partly solves the copying problem, and could make for some interesting strategy. (not dissimilar to how cancellers are used as “chess pieces” on a battlefield – in this case should you cancel the extended range fire shot from El Neptuno or the Kian Ng-aided 2S shot from the Grand Path?) On top of all that, with this ability I think the ship could be drastically less expensive, perhaps to the tune of 19-20 points. (as the ability is arguably worse than El Acorazado’s, I think…)

It’s like a Mirror Force effect if you ever saw Yugioh. XD (and that card got banned for good reason haha)

Banraun
Faction Affiliation: French
Rarity: C
Type: Crew
Point Value: 7
Ability: Ex-Patriot. Captain. Musketeer.

Flavor text: Banraun is still working for the French Crown, but he has also developed a secret profession as a captain for hire. He is fantastic at hiding his activities, but has put himself into a risky position despite his higher income.

Historical Custom of the Day #255

Alberto del Canto
Spanish
Crew
6 points
Ability: Hostile: The Inquisitor, Diego de Montemayor. Explorer. Gold Capture.

I don’t like using Hostile for specific game pieces, but both make sense in this case.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

I can give the canoes one cargo, would that make them less OP? Or would leaving them as-is just be par for the course, considering the existing canoes?

Yes, but they’re not better than the American canoes, so no changes are completely necessary. I just feel like canoes with more than 1 cargo are just OP by default (unless the Chieftain had a ridiculously limiting cost like 20+).

Well, he’s supposed to be an ANTacrtic explorer, would you still call the ocean in that area the Arctic ocean?

My bad, I was just thinking all north.

[Ben]

@Xerecs: All three IMO. The cargo is extremely important with canoes; one set of those could be a gold running powerhouse even without factoring the auto Captain into play. 10 cargo spaces for 13 points with plenty of speed and the possibility of five 4S shots in addition to that – very impressive. The Star Chaser is less OP than most other Battleships I’ve seen from y’all, and very fragile for the points.

Iju seems really cool! Last part of his flavor should probably say “not in the Arctic”, assuming you mean the Arctic Ocean/area.

[Ben]

Tranquil Tide
Faction Affiliation: American
Rarity: C
Type: Ship
Point Value: 14
Number of Masts: 3
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3L-4S-3L
Ability: Galley. If this ship begins a move action within S of land, she gets +L to her base move. Enemies get -1 to their cannon rolls when this ship is within S of land.

Flavor text: After a full decade of experience sailing both the Crimson Coast and Mediterranean, the crew of this vessel know how to maneuver close to the shoreline. With a shallow draft and light but accurate long range cannons, she often makes utter fools of enemies that are unfamiliar with her history.

Historical Custom of the Day #254

Diego de Montemayor
Spanish
Crew
5 points
Ability: Explorer. This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls. This ship gets +1 to her d6 rolls against game pieces on land.

Last ability is meant to be a catch-all affecting forts, marines, ports, structures, etc. Putting it at 2 points for now.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

I would argue that the Matoran Canoes are likely more OP than the Chaser, though I like them better.

Elephant
Faction Affiliation: Barbary Corsair
Rarity: R
Type: Ship
Point Value: 9
Number of Masts: 1
Cargo Space: 0
Base Move: T
Cannons: 2S-2S-2S-2S
Ability: Flotilla. Extended Range. This flotilla eliminates cargo with every hit if the target is within S of this flotilla.

Flavor text: With heavy carronades capable of devastating short-range damage, the Corsairs broke from tradition to construct their first flotilla. Tripoli’s merchants hope she can be as devastating as her namesake, to protect trade against the growing dangers of the Mediterranean.

Historical Custom of the Day #253

Alonso Hernández Puertocarrero
Spanish
Crew
3 points
Ability: This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls. Place this crew face up during setup. Reduce the cost of all other crew placed on this ship by 1.
Link: Hernan Cortes

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

I wouldn’t mind if the Bomo’s abilities were simply automatic if the cargo went to 3 or the cost to 12. The text doesn’t specify on which turn the effects apply, so it’s a bit confusing – not to mention the annoyance of yet another roll for the ship every single turn that opponents then have to remember for their own turns when attacking it.
I know the second one isn’t really better than the Bon Marin or Intrepide, but it’s just a simple OP gold runner to me. No changes need to be made, it’s just really basic and not really what customs are about IMO. (flavor text could help though)

Grand Plunder
Faction Affiliation: Jade Rebellion
Rarity: R
Type: Ship
Point Value: 18
Number of Masts: 6
Cargo Space: 6
Base Move: L
Cannons: 3S-4L-4L-4L-4L-3S
Ability: Junk. This ship may dock at an enemy home island and take as much treasure as she can carry. If able, she must leave on your next turn.

Flavor text: Built and named for pillaging, the Jades made sure to construct a monstrosity for nearly every seafaring purpose. Despite the complete lack of deception, the crew of this vessel uses the Grand Plunder’s sheer size to get away with massive heists.

Historical Custom of the Day #252

Juan Díaz de Solís
Spanish
Crew
4 points
Ability: Explorer. If this ship begins a move action within S of land, she gets +S to her base move.

Originally I had his second ability at just one point (worse than a Helmsman), but between speed being the most important attribute in this game and how versatile it could be, I bumped it all the way to 3. It would be a nice boost whenever you left your home island or a wild island, similar to those +S after loading/unloading cargo abilities. Plus, two abilities into one cargo space is great for a gold runner especially. This ability plus a helmsman on some gold runners could be really good I think.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Swift Stabbing
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: U
Type: Ship
Point Value: 15
Number of Masts: 4
Cargo Space: 3
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 2L-4S-4L-5L
Ability: Schooner. On the turn this ship is pinned, eliminate one crew and one mast from the rammed ship.

Flavor text: Every Cursed crew on this ship is equipped with at least one sword. They’ve even sharpened and strengthened the ship’s bowsprit to better tear enemy rigging and sails upon impact with other ships. Relying on speed rather than firepower, the ship performs adequately against most opponents, but has lost minor engagements to well-trained European gun crews.

Historical Custom of the Day #251

Triumph
Faction Affiliation: English
Rarity: C
Type: Ship
Point Value: 18
Number of Masts: 4
Cargo Space: 5
Base Move: L
Cannons: 4S-3L-3L-4S
Ability: English ships within S of this ship get +1 to their cannon rolls.
Link: Martin Frobisher

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

The Everjust is confusing with 4 cannons instead of 3.
Personally I think the comment in Dorrian’s name is unnecessary. Especially because it made me think the ship linked to two crew, one called “Master-at-Arms” and one called Wesley Dorrian. His cost seems right, though I don’t like the thought of adding a die roll before each shoot. Maybe the controller can choose which bonus applies? (cannons would win out over boarding in most cases, but being able to choose also makes sense thematically based on situational preparation)
Celestial Fire seems overpriced based on how difficult it would be to pull off Repeating Guns – even if you hit every time, you might not need to bother shooting again since 5 hits will take care of most ships. (not to mention the backfiring) I could see her at 16.
Styx is kinda neat; I assume the name is not from the band? XD (any flavor text yet?)
Seems easy to read to me!

[Ben]

BA basically doesn’t work on 10 masted junks, but could be of slight value when the ship loses a lot of masts. More of a thematic touch given the “berserk anger” flavor stuff. XD The ship is not after sea creatures since most of those will be Cursed or not hostile to the Cursed, unlike many subs.
I like both of those 1 masters.
@JB/JW: Rewording looks fine. I like when the title of the game piece is bolded, makes it stand out more. (hopefully I’ll get more options on this forum sometime, for font sizes and maybe colors) Post in whatever increments you want!

[Ben]

@Jonathan Bowen: Repeating Guns seems like a very risky ability. I suggest changing it to “this ship” for the last part of the wording.
The “Gil-Adriel” (Galadriel?) seems extremely overpriced. I would capitalize the C to make it Cursed (more obvious that it’s factional) and drop the “actions are not abilities” part since it seems unnecessary. Unless I’m missing something, 6-7 points would probably work.

~~~~~

Alright, after quite a long break, it is finally time to reveal another 10 master!! XD And a BIG day for custom reveals overall!

Devil’s Wrath
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: LE
Type: Ship
Point Value: 37
Number of Masts: 10
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 2L-2L-3S-3S-3S-4L-4L-4L-2L-2L
Ability: Junk. Broadsides Attack. This ship cannot carry gold. The ship can shoot at submerged submarines.
Link: Diabolos

Flavor text: Bursting forth from the fiery depths of hell comes the latest in a long line of Cursed behemoths. Setting sail from deep in the Indian Ocean, Diabolos is taking “His Wrath” to the Americas to wreak havoc and send humans to their doom. With a cargo hold always full of ammunition, the crew has but one purpose – sink enemy vessels, whether they are above or below the waves. Plunder is ignored in the conquest of annihilation.

Diabolos

Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: LE
Type: Crew
Point Value: 16
Ability: Loyal: Cursed. Captain. Once per turn, choose one enemy ship within L of this ship. Roll a d6; on a 5-6, eliminate 2/3 of that ship’s masts (rounding up from .5 and greater), ignoring all defensive abilities. This crew may use his abilities only aboard Cursed 10 masters.
Link: Devil’s Wrath

Flavor text: Called by Xenthalos from Hell itself, Diabolos is as close as mere mortals can get to seeing the Devil himself. Upon seeing the dominance of mankind over the world’s oceans, he flew into an unstoppable rage. Often using a flash fire burning power, he can destroy masts and rigging with blasts of fire with nearly no drawback. Rumor has it that he can fly – if true, his newest opponents in the Atlantic will be charred corpses on the ocean by month’s end.

Diabolos translates as “Devil”, partially inspired by the villain from Final Fantasy.

I originally had his feature ability eliminating all but one of the enemy ship’s masts, but then you could take a 10 down to 1 mast with one die roll… I know it’s still OP, but I may increase the cost even further or make it happen only on a 6. (the ability is based on the Dark Messenger ability in FF6 which is actually more devastating (leaving you with 1/16 of your HP lol). I may also make him more crazy with flying/fire abilities, but for now Doragon the Magnificent is the only character I’ve made who can fly, and it should probably stay that way. XD

~~~~~

Quarter of the way to 1,000 in this series, so time for a big one! XD

Historical Custom of the Day #250

Martin Frobisher

English
Crew
7 points
Ability: Captain. Explorer. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against the French and Spanish.
Link: Aid, Triumph, Edward Fenton, George Best, Francis Drake

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Ben]

Huh, assuming they EACH cost 16 points, Takea could come down to maybe 9 or 10 points. Speed is good but sharks are horrendous in gameplay.
I like the flavor/ability of Kes quite a lot, but 10 points is way too high. I would say the ability is about equally bad and good, and could see a point cost of about 4 I think. Also, by 2 masted “sloop”, I assume you mean the blockade runner ship type like the Prince of Chichester? The original 1 masters are the main ship type referred to as sloops.

[Ben]

Rachna
Faction Affiliation: Barbary Corsair
Rarity: SE
Type: Ship
Point Value: 20
Number of Masts: 4
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 2L-2S-2S-2L
Ability: This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls if she has a captain and helmsman crew assigned to her.
Link: Malophoros

Flavor text: Malophoros captured this ship from the Mercenaries, and now uses her as a flagship of sorts. Currently the only non-galley Barbary Corsair ship, she attracts heavy fire from the imperial nations at war in the southern Mediterranean. However, between the ship’s incredible cannons and Malophoros’ leadership, she has not lost a battle yet.

Malophoros
Barbary Corsair
Crew
Rarity: R
10 points
Ability: Black Mark. AA [Once at the beginning of each of your turns, roll a d6. On a result of 6, any ship in your fleet may be given two actions that turn.]. When this ship hits an enemy ship, you may also eliminate one crew from that ship.
Link: Rachna

Flavor text: Deemed “The Most Evile Corsair” by various governments, this Barbary Admiral collaborates with the Mediterranean Cursed fleet. He is extremely skilled, and enjoys inflicinting great pain upon his opponents. Few have dared to stand up to him; those who do, gain his respect. But not his mercy.

~~~~~

Historical Custom of the Day #249

George Best
English
Crew
1 point
Ability: Once per turn you may look at all the treasures of an island you have previously explored.
Link: Martin Frobisher

This ability would not include islands that have been “unmarked” by things such as the S-Explorer ability.

You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas

[Author]

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